Fob gas burning heaters



Sept. 15, 1931. H. w. PARTLOW 1,823,122

GOVERNOR FOR GAS BURNING HEATERS Filed Feb. 18, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet lSept. 15, 1931. H. w. PARTLOW 1,823,122

GOVERNOR FOR GAS BURNING HEATERS Filed Feb. 18, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Patented Sept. 15, 1931 UNITED- STATES HOWARD W. PARTLOW, OF UTICA, NEWYORK GOVERNOR FOB GAS BURNING HEATERS Application filed February 18,1929. Serial No. 340,841.

This invention relates to improvements in thermally controlled fuel-gasgovernors, de-

signed for use in connection with high and low pressure gas-heatersgenerally, and has for its object to provide novel construction andarrangement of valves for supplying the fuel to the main heater and alsoto an auxiliary burner that controls the thermostatic safety mechanism,and also performs the functions of an ordinary pilot light for ignitingthe burners of the heater.

The governor comprises an elon ated hollow body that houses the fuelispensing valves, the valve for the auxiliary burner 5 comprising aportion of a reciprocatable member or plunger that is partially enclosedby the body, and is movable manually for supplying the fuel to theauxiliary burner in advance of the lighting of the main heater,

a second movement of said member being required for effecting theopening of the valve that dispenses the fuel to the heater, and saidmember being operable automatically by tension means for closing thefuel passages to the heater and thermostat by the extinguishment of theauxiliary burner.

A further object is to provide simple means for temporarily arrestingand holding the reciprocatable member in the position for dispensing thegas alone to the pilot burner for initially heating and expanding thethermal element, which preferably comprises a column or body of mercury.After the mercury is expanded to a suitable extent and the 5reciprocatable member is finally operated manually for opening the mainvalve that feeds the fuel to the heater, means carried by the thermostatand operable by the force of the expansion of the mercury interlockswith the said member and prevents the closing, accidentally orotherwise, of the mam and pilot valves, as long as the gas supply isnormal and the pilot burner remains lighted.

The contraction of the mercury following the shutting-off or failure ofthe gas supply,

causes the release of the reciprocatable member, which effects theautomatic and instantaneous closing of both of said Valves. Thearrangement of the thermostat is such that as 5 long as the pilot orauxiliary burner remains lighted, tampering with the gas su pl to themain andauxiliary burners whi e t e said supply is otherwise normal, isrendered impossible. And a further object is to provide distant manuallycontrolled means for shutting-off the entire gas supply to the overnormechanism, for facilitating instal 'ng, removing, or repairing the saidmechanism.

I attain these objects by the means set forth in the detaileddescription which follows, and as lllustrated by the accompanyingdrawlngs, in which Figure 1 is a central longitudinal section, taken onhne 1-1 of Fig. 2, showing the pilot burner lighted and the mainandpilot valves closed. Fig. 2 is a front side elevation of thegovernor, showing the plunger operated for opening the pilot valve, withparts broken away to show the means for holding said valve open. Fig. 3is a partial end elevation and partial central vertical section, certamparts being omitted, showing the plunger operated for opening the ovenvalve without dlsturbing the flow of the gas to the pilot burner, alsoshowing the thermally controlled 7 means for holding said valves open.Fig. 4 1s an end view of the mercury-controlled means for maintainingthe open condition of v the two valves. -And Fig. 5 is an end elevationof the pilot burner and mercury bulb.

In the drawings, 2 represents the elongated hollow body of the governor,whose top end is closed by a screw-plug 2. This end of the body isformed with an enlarged chamber 2a, and with a circular seat 2?) for themain fuel valve, as 3, that supplies the gas to an oven or other heater(not shown). The opposite sides of the chamber 2a are formedrespectively with inlet and outlet passages 2c2d, to which are connecteda gas supply pipe 4 and a gas discharge pipe 4. The pipe 4 is preferablyfitted with a hand-valve 4a for controlling the fiow of the gas towardsthe governor. Below the chamber 2a the body is bored axially, as at 5,to receive a reciprocatable member or plunger, 6, whose lower endextends below the body and supports a coil spring 6', which tends tonormally hold the plunger extended, as shown in Fig. 1. The body isformed below the chamber 2a with reduced alining inlet and outlet ports7 and 7 which communicate with the bore 5. The passage 7 is fitted witha pipe 711 which taps the main supply pipe 4 by means of a T 4?), thepipe 7a being provided with a handvalve 7?) for regulating the flow ofthe gas therethrough. The port. 7 is fitted with a pipe 70, thatconducts the gas to an auxiliary or pilot burner 8, which may bedisposed in an oven for lighting its burners, or at any other convenientlocation. The top end of the way 5 is preferably counter-bored andthreaded to receive a stuiling-box 9, which supports a reciprocatablebolt 9 and prevents leakage of the gas from chamber 2a to the way 5. Thebolt 9 is normally in engagement with the top end 6a of the plunger 6,and is preferably shorter than the space between the valve 3 and the endof the plunger 6, to enable the plunger to be moved axially a shortdistance, as shown in Fig. 2, for effecting the feeding of the gas tothe pilot burner 8, without opening or disturbing the valve 3. The topportion 6a of the plunger substantially fills the bore 5, and thisportion together with an. adjacent reduced portion 61) constitute theauxiliary fuel valve (1 that controls the flow of the gas to the burner8. Fig. 1 shows the enlarged portion 6a of the plunger 6 so disposed asto close the passage 77, while the valve 3 is shown resiliently held inclosed position by a spring 3. By this arrangement, no gas may flow toeither the oven or auxiliary burner.

To make ready to fire a furnace or other heater, the valve 7?) shouldfirst be opened to admit the gas to the passage 7. This should befollowed by the upward movement of the plunger 6 until the stop pin 10carried by the body registers with an annular seat or groove 6d of theplunger. The stop 10 is next forced into said seat against the tensionof a light coil spring 10'. The operator then holds the stop stationaryand lets o the plunger which moves downwardly by t e tension of spring6' sufliciently to effect the interlocking of the stop and plunger. Thisslight upward thrust of the plunger moves the reduced portion 66 intoregistry with the ports 7 7 and enables the gas to flow via the pipe 7 0towards the auxiliary burner 8, which may then be lighted, as shown inFig. 1. The burner 8 is Preferably disposed parallel to a bulb 13, thesaidparts being securely held by clamps 8'. 13 represents a smallcaliber tube that communicates with the bulb 13. This tube may be of anysuitable length and its fartherend connects with a threaded plug orbushing 13a, that screws into one end of a cylindrical casing 14, thesaid plug being formed with a chamber 14 in whlch is disposed adiaphragm 14a, the diaphragm being held in place by a cap 14b, which isformed with a coinciding chamber 14:22, as shown in Fig. 1. The bulb 13,tube 13' and chamber 14 are preferably filled with mercury, as 15, whichcomprises the thermal element in the present governor. The opposite endof the casin 14 is bored axially and is formed with a reduced threadedhub 140, which screws into a lateral opening 20 of the body 2. Withinthe casing 14 is axially disposed a cylindrical plunger 16, having around end that normally bears against the diaphragm 14a. The other endof the plunger 16 extends partway into the hub 14c and is spaced fromthe member 6 sufficiently to enable the plunger to befreelyreciprocated. The plunger 16 is formed with an annular flange 16that serves as a seat for a coil spring 1611 which also engages theinner end of the casing (see Fig. 1). The spring 16a tends to hold theplunger against the diaphragm 14a, so that the flexing of the diaphragmby the expansion of the mercury 15 moves the plunger towards the member6 against the tension of spring 16a. The plunger 16 is boredlongitudinally to receive a bolt 17 an d also a spring 17 which tends toh old the bolt extended to engage the member 6. Fig. 1 shows the normalarrangement of the thermally controlled mechanism when the governor isin the inoperative condition. lVhen the auxiliary burner 8 is firstlighted, the heat produced by its flame expands the mercury 15throughout the line 131314. This expansion of the mercury flexes thediaphra gm 14a and moves the plunger 16 bodily towards the member 6. Theinitial heating of the mercury alone is continued for several minutes,or until a relatively strong pressure is exerted by the bolt 17 againstthe member 6. At this juncture, the operator again moves the member 6upwardly to bring the seat 60! into registry with the bolt 17. The boltis then shot into the said seat by the tension of spring 17', where itremains as long as the pilot burner is lighted and the expansion of themercury is maintained, as explained. This last upward movement of themember 6 enables spring 10 to withdraw the stop 10, and through thecooperation of the bolt 9, moves the valve 3 away from its seat toprovide a clear passage for the fuel to the oven or other burners. Thecock 4a may be opened either before or immediately after the unseatingof valve 3. When the gas dispensed by the valve 3 reaches the oven, thepilot burner 8 instantly ignites the gas to start the heating operation,in a well-known manner. Thereafter, the heating plant will continue tooperate safely under the control of the governor, until the fuel supplyis either shut-01f by the closing of the cocks 4a-7b, or the supply ofgas fails for any other reason.

lS'Iy gas governor is extremely simple in construction and economicaland reliable in operation. By its use all danger of fires, explosions,loss of service of a heater, injury to attendants, waste of fuel due tountimely or accidental shutting-0E of the gas supply at its source, orthe extinguishment of the pilot burner by back-draft and the like, areontirely eliminated. The provision of the auxiliary burner 8, which inthe present caseperforms the function of an ordinary pilot light, and atthe same time controls the thermostat, not only greatly lessens thenumber of parts, thereby enabling me to install in governor within arelatively small space, ut insures positive. reliable and safe governingof industrial ovens and other gas heaters.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, is

1. A governor for gas-heaters and the like comprising a hollow bodycontaining a valve to supply gas to the heater and havmg a barrel formedwith coinciding gas ports, a S111- gle reciprocatable member in saidbarrel formed to actuate said valve and control sa1d gas ports, tensionmeans to hold said memher in release position, a thermostat comprising acolumn of mercury, a pilot burner to light the heater receiving gas fromsa1d ports, means to move said member to first open said ports to startthe pilot burner for heating the mercury, and finally to open sa1d valveto start the heater, and a bolt associated with said reciprocatablemember and, operable by the expansion of the mercury to prevent movementof said member for closing said valve while the pilot burner remainslighted.

2. The combination with a gas governor including a'hollow body formedwith a barrel and a chamber containing a valve for dispensing gas to aheater or the like, of a pilot burner to light the burners of theheater, said barrel being formed with ports to feed ihg an elementresponsive to the heat of the pilot burner, a single memberreciprocatable in said barrel formed with a valve-portion to controlsaid ports, said member operable to be moved manually first to open saidports to start the expansion of said element and finally to open thevalve that controls the heater, means actuated by said thermostat toprevent the closing of said valve as long as the pilot burner remainslighted, and means to close said valve and said ports upon thecontraction of said element.

3. In a gas governor for industrial ovens and the like, a hollow casingformed with a chamber and a barrel having coinciding ports, a valve insaid chamber, a single plunger in said barrel to open said valve, saidplunger being movable manually to open said ports in advance of theopening of said valve, a pilot burner, means includin a column ofmercury responsive to the eat of the pilot burner, means to-hold theplunger stationary during the preliminary heating of the mercury, andmeans operable by the expansion of the mercury to engage the plunger toprevent closing of said valve While the pilot burner remains lighted.

as to the pilot burner, a thermostat includ- 4. A gas governor forindustrial'ovens comprising a body formed with a chamber containing avalve to dispense gas to the oven and having a barrel portion formedwith an independent gas passage, a single plunger in the barrel operableto be moved sequentially first to open said passage and then to opensaid valve, means to enclose both the valve and passage automaticallywhen the gas supply fails, a pilot burner to light the burners of theoven receiving gas from said passage, a thermostat including a body ofmercury responsive to the heat of the pilot burner, and means operableby the expanded mercury to prevent release of the plunger and theautomatic closing of said valve While the pilot burner remains lighted.

5. A governor for gas burners, or the like comprising a casing havinginlet and outlet ports, a by-pass leading from said casing, a mainburner connected to the outlet port, an auxiliary burner connected tothe by-pass, a single movable member in said casing oper able tosuccessively open the by-pass and. upon further movement to open theoutlet port, latching means for the movable member to retain the outletand by-pass open, a thermostatic element normally responsive to the heatof the auxiliary burner to actuate the latching means, means to releasethe latching means, and means to actuate the movable member and therebyto close the outlet and by-pass upon failure of the auxilary burner.

6. A governor for gas burners comprising a casing having valvecontrolled inlet and outlet ports, a bypass leading from said casing, amain burner connected to said outlet ort, an auxiliary burner connectedto said ypass, an integral plunger slidable in said casing and having apart thereof formed to control said bypass and which upon predetermined,limited sliding motion opens said bypass and upon further sliding motionactuates and opens said outlet port valve, latching means to retain saidplunger in its first named position, other latching means to retain saidplunger in its second named position, a thermostatic element responsiveto the heat of the auxiliary burner to actuate said second namedlatching means, tension means to release each of said latching means,and tension means to actuate the plunger and thereby to close all ofsaid ports upon failure of the auxiliary burner.

7. A governor for gas burners comprising a casing having valvecontrolled inlet and outlet ports, a bypass leading from said casing, amain burner connected to said outlet port, an auxiliary burner connectedto said ypass, a single member movable in said casing having a portionthereof formed to control said bypass and which upon predeterminedmotion opens said bypass and upon further motion actuates and opens saidoutlet port valve, latching means to retain said on c.

member in its first named position, other latching means to retain saidplunger in its second named position, a thermostatic element responsiveto the heat of the auxiliary burner to actuate said second namedlatching means, means to release each of said latching means and tensionmeans to actuate said movable member and thereby to close all of saidports upon failure of the auxiliary burner.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature. HOWARD W. PARTLOW.

